Help Your Anxious Kid Prepare For An Event With YouTube Videos

Once, I saw my husband showing our daughter some YouTube videos of the rides at a local theme park. These were not the new wild rides, but the slow kiddie ones. He pointed out the details. “See, you drive around in a loop,” he said. She stared at the screen intently.

Later, when we visited that theme park, my daughter confidently got in line for ride after ride. This was somewhat of a shock, as she’s typically pretty anxious when trying something new. Those boring YouTube videos really helped — being able to see exactly what she was in for ahead of time helped calm any nerves.

Jamie, a mum of a four-year-old with an anxiety disorder, tells me this is actually her favourite parenting hack.

“I YouTube the shit out of any activity we’re doing,” she says. “I’ll Instagram her new dance teacher. I’ll YouTube Disneyland’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I show, show, show in advance. It works every time.”

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